Air-flow control for vacuum cleaners



Jlily 24, 1951 o. M. ANDERSON AIRFLOW CONTROL FOR VACUUM CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 50, 1946 grvue/rvhob 0504 P M. A NDf/PJON 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 grwem/bom Use/v? MANDERJO/V Q QM 5 um O O M ANDERSON AIRFLOW CONTROL FOR VACUUM CLEANER July 24, 1951 Filed Jan. 30, 1946 part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

dicated in the appended claims.

Patented July 24, 1951 f IR-FLOW v 4 Clairnsr This invention relatesto vacuumcleaners par.- ticularly for household use and so constructed as to be movable by a handle under relatively loW pieces of furniture. This type of cleaner comprises, in general, a base supported by wheels possiblethe use ofan electricmotor of such low construction that the cleaner. will pass under articles of furniture having relatively, small clearance above the floor'. This object is accomplished by the provision of manually controlledmeans for reducing the nozzle suction of the vacuum fan when the use of the cleaner requires very substantial increase in the power consumed by the brush, and for increasing, at the same time, the movement of heated air away from the electric motor so as to improve the cooling thereof.

Therefore, when the increase of brush load on the motor is the consequence of application of the cleaner to a thickpile carpet or rug, overheating of the motor can be prevented by reducing the nozzle suction and by improving the cooling of the motor without, at the same time, ma-

terially reducing the ability of the cleanerto i remove the loosened foreign matter by suction.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in The invention accordingly consistsin the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts whichwill be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will In the drawingsv I I Figure 1;is a plan View of a vacuum cleaner embodying the present invention, a portion of the motor cover being broken away; and

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the I cleaner.

The vacuum cleaner comprises a base or carriage ill supported abovelthe floor by a pair of side wheels I] anda rearwheel l2 and provid CONTRO L FOR vacuum "GLEANERS" I p I New Britain, Conn. assignor I v 2 Y ing-a housing or suction chamber l3 fora suction fan i4 driven by an electric motor IEHsupported on a plate i6 closing the upper side of the housing lit. The base it together with a quickdetachable bottom coverplate ll provides a'suction' nozzle 18 connected by a passage 59 with the central opening it leading to the suction chamber 13, The outlet 2i leads througha quick detachable coupling 22- to a dust collector bag tithe upper end of which-is/attached in any suitable manner, not shown, to. the handle 25 pivotally connected at 2t witha bracket Zlattached-to the base iii.

' Bracket 21 is of hollow construction and provides a conduit for the entrance of air at 33 into the lower portion of. the field frame and housing t'l'of the motor [5 which encloses an armature 32 and field windings, not shown. Armature, 32

is" carried by a shaft 33. supported in bearings provided by the housing SI and the plate it. Shaft '33 extends below the plate it and carries the fan-"Id and provides a small pulley 35 connectedby-a belt 3t with'a rotary brush 3? sup.- ported in the nozzle l8. v

The upper end of shaft 33 supports and drives a motor cooling fan 4i? which draws air through the housing 3i and expels heated air through a side opening ll of the housing and into a sham-- ber- 42 within an ornamental cover d3. Cover 43- supports a front louver piece M throughwhich air may pass and also by which rays from an incandescent lamp d5 are directed obliquely upon thefloor -in-order to illuminate: dark places 4 on thefloo'r', particularly under furniture whichthe cleaner can reach by reason of its low construction. :While the the protectionofcthe lamp 415 and the motor i5 and in providing for the attractiveappcara'nce of th icieane it has the tenden o o fi i h heaied-aire b themoto eni It has ,b en found; advantageous to make use of thesuc- 1; t 1onfan]l4 .1 0 withdraw heated air fromlthe che, rnb j 42;. Eorthis" purpose arm-e11, as a he inurpd hb d scr bed; h tom Wa by f the chamberizl provided by'the top wall ofthe e 1Q, has two ,el'on'gated "openings 5i] and iii con rolled, respectively, byiplates 52 andES' in- ".te wit e eee mle rj i essi i m the te t er nd ri ted ne a? 'sd "5'5 hrea e cover. #13 has utility in providing for into the base In and confining under its head a hold-down spring 56. In the normal position of the lever 54, shown in Fig. l, the plate 53 covers the opening and the plate 52 nearly covers the opening 50. Thus, the chamber 42 is connected at least to a limited degree with the suction passage l9.

When lever 54 is located as shown in Fig. 1, the cleaner is conditioned for use on carpets having relatively short pile requiring thatthe rotary brush 3! consume a moderate amount of power of the electric motor. When the cleaner is used on carpets and rugs of thicker and longer pile, the power consumed by the brush is materially increased. In order to avoid overheating the motor, the lever 54 should be moved clockwise from the position shown in Fig. l, to open the apertures 50 and 5|. Such movement of the lever 54 accomplishes two purposes, namely, (1) reduction in the nozzle suction of the suction fan I4 by increasing the venting of the suction duct I9, thus bypassing the nozzle l8, and (2) increase in the movement of air from the chamber 42 whereby the cooling of the motor is increased. It will be seen that by varying the position of plates 52 and 53, the effective opening of openings 50 and 5! can be varied as desired.

The lever 54 provides for conditioning the cleaner for various kinds of service from the easiest, when the cleaner is used on a relatively smooth floor covering when the brushing effort is the minimum and the vacuum action can be the maximum, to the most difficult, when the brushing effort is the maximum and the vacuum eifect can be reduced without materially affecting the ability of the cleaner to pick up foreign material and transfer it to the dust bag. In any kind of service, the motor is being cooled sufficiently to prevent overheating. This makes possible the use of a relatively small motor which can be operated safely for an indefinite period even when the service requires full load operation of the motor. Consequently, the cleaner can be built relatively low so as to pass easily under most of the furniture.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

, I claim as my invention:

1. A suction cleaner comprising a base supported for movement upon a floor and providing a suction chamber, a suction nozzle having a dust receiving opening, a suction duct connecting the nozzle with the suction chamber and a suction chamber outlet connectible with a dust collector, a suction fan in the suction chamber, a rotary brush in the nozzle cooperating with said dust receiving opening, an electric motor operatively connected with the fan and brush having a housing supported by the base, a cover for the motor and housing resting on the base and providing an air chamber about the motor and housing, means forming an air inlet passageway to the motor housing from the exterior of the cover;

means forming an air outlet passageway from the housing to the said air chamber, means defining an air passageway between the suction duct and said air chamber, said last named passageway communicating with the suction duct at a point spaced from the dust receiving opening, movable means for varying the effective opening of the last named passageway, and a manually operable handle for moving the movable means extending exteriorly of the cover and base.

2. A suction cleaner comprising a base supported for movement upon a floor and providing a suction chamber, a suction nozzle, a suction duct connecting the nozzle with the suction chamber, and a suction chamber outlet connectible with a dust collector, a suction fan in the suction chamber, a rotary brush in the nozzle, an electric motor operatively connected with the fan and brush having a housing supported by the base, a cover defining a space about said motor and housing and resting on said base, means forming an air inlet passageway between the housing and the exterior of thecover, and an air outlet passageway between the housing and the space within the cover, two apertures in the top wall of said base forwardly of the motor housing and forming connections between the space within the cover and the suction duct, and a plate pivotally mounted on the base between the apertures and providing valves for varying the effective opening of said apertures, said plate having an operating arm extending forwardly through a notch in the cover.

3. A suction cleaner comprising a base supported for movement upon a floor and providing a suction chamber, a suction nozzle, a suction duct connecting the nozzle with the suction chamber and a suction chamber outlet connectible with a dust collector, a suction fan in the suction chamber, a rotary brush in the nozzle, an electric motor operatively connected with the fan and brush having a housing supported by the base, a cover for the motor and housing resting on the base and providing an air chamber surrounding the motor and housing, means for admitting ambient air to said chamber through the motor housing, a passage between the last mentioned chamber and the suction duct, a valve for controlling said passage, a member accessible from the exterior for operating the valve, and means limiting movement of the valve between a position in which the passage is at least partially open to a position in which the passage is substantially fully open.

4.A suction cleaner comprising a base supported for movement upon a floor and providing a suction chamber, a suction nozzle, a suction duct connecting the nozzle with the suction chamber and a suction chamber outlet connectible with a dust collector, a suction fan in the suction chamber, a rotary brush in the nozzle, an electric motor operatively connected with the fan and brush having a hOllSing supported by the base, a cover for the motor and housing resting on the base and providing an air chamber surrounding the motor and housing, means forming an air inlet passageway between the motor housing and the exterior of the cover, and an air outlet passageway between the housing and said air chamber, a cooling fan driven by the motor for causing :air to circulate through the housing of the motor and to be discharged into the chamber from the motor housing, two elongated apertures in the top wall of the base and providing connection between the last mentioned chamber andthe'suction'duct, a plate pivotally mounted on the base between the apertures and providing valves movable to vary the effective opening of said. apertures and. providing a plate-operating-lever which extends to the exterior through a notch in the cover, said notch 5 being of such width that movement of the plate is limited between a position in which both apertures are substantially wide open and a position in which one aperture is closed and the other is partly open.

OSCAR M. ANDERSON.

6 1 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 562,908 Nowlen June30, 1896 1,209,721 Kirby Dec. 26, 1916 1,260,282 Harrold Mar. 19, 1918 2,064,344 'Good Dec. 15, 1936 2,126,383 Grothe Aug. 9, 1938 2,221,746 Kirby Nov. 12, 1940 2,244,165 MacFarland June 3,1941 

